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Assessment in Early
Childhood Education
Seventh edition
Sue C. Wortham
Professor Emerita
University of Texas at San Antonio
Belinda J. Hardin
Associate Professor
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco Hoboken

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wortham, Sue Clark

Assessment in early childhood education/Sue C. Wortham, Belinda Hardin.—Seventh edition.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-13-380291-7—ISBN 0-13-380291-4
1. Educational tests and measurements—United States. 2. Psychological tests for children—
United States. 3. Ability in children—United States—Testing. 4. Early childhood education—
United States—Evaluation. I. Hardin, Belinda June II. Title.
LB3060.217.W67 2016
372.21—dc23
2014040128
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN-10: 0-13-380291-4
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-380291-7
Preface
Students preparing to become teachers of young children from infancy through the
early primary grades must be prepared to measure or evaluate children who are in
the period of development called early childhood. Tests and other types of assess-
ments designed for young children are different from those intended for children
in later grades in elementary school. Because infants and children under age 8 have
developmental needs different from those of older children, a textbook that in-
cludes discussion of assessment in the early childhood years must be written from a
developmental perspective.
In the second decade of the 21st century, early childhood educators have been
challenged in their efforts to assess very young children using the most important
strategies for their ongoing development. As a result, it is especially important that
future teachers and teachers who are struggling with these issues be fully informed
about the range of assessment possibilities and where they are the most beneficial
for young children.
traditional and Authentic Assessment Strategies

This book is written for future teachers and current teachers of young children. It
includes information about standardized tests and, more importantly, other types of
assessments that are appropriate for young children, such as screening tools, observa-
tions, checklists, and rating scales. Assessments designed by teachers are explained
both for preschool children and for kindergarten and primary-grade children who
are transitioning into literacy. With the ever-growing trend toward performance as-
sessment, portfolios, and other methods of reporting a child’s performance, chapters
describing these strategies have been expanded and enhanced. The approach of this
edition is the development of an assessment system that includes traditional as well
as authentic assessment strategies in a comprehensive plan. Thus, in this new edition,
we seek to inform the reader about all types of assessments and their appropriate use.
new to this edition

• Video links embedded in the Pearson eText make it possible for students to see
real-life examples of the content in each chapter.
• Formative and summative assessments for students in the Pearson eText include
“Checking Your Understanding” within major sections of each chapter so that
students can gauge their understanding as they read and study the material, end
of chapter “Review Questions” support student learning and knowledge reten-
tion, and end-of-chapter “Applying What You Have Learned” to provide practice
applying chapter concepts for deeper understanding.
iii
iv • Chapter 5, Classroom Assessment and Documentation, is a new chapter and
Chapter 6, Observation, which used to be the focus of Chapter 5, is now ex-
Preface panded and covered in its own chapter to give sufficient coverage and guide-
lines to each of these important topics and skills. Chapter 6 also explains how
observation strategies are adapted for infants and toddlers, children with dis-
abilities, and English language learners (ELLs).
• New information is presented on the increasing importance of technology in
assessment, such as electronic portfolios and teacher use of social media to
share information on assessment.
• The impact of educational policies such as Common Core State Standards and
early learning standards for very young children and how they support mean-
ingful performance assessment are discussed.
• Updated information on standardized tests includes new tests and the deletion
of some outdated tests.
how to Assess Young Children

Earlier editions of this book were developed in response to the expressed needs
of teachers and graduate students who must understand and use current trends in
assessment and put them into perspective within the reality of public schools that
are required to focus intensively on standardized tests. Fortunately, commercial
publishers of curriculum kits and textbooks for public schools are increasingly in-
cluding performance assessments along with traditional assessments in their guides
for teachers. Portfolios are becoming common as well. Nevertheless, teachers still
need help in maintaining a balance between these new strategies and standardized
testing.
An important factor in the assessment of young children is when and how they
should be measured. This is a controversial issue. The strengths and weaknesses
of each type of assessment presented are discussed, as is research on the problems
surrounding testing and evaluation in early childhood. Because many sources in
the literature and other textbooks do not include the limitations in addition to the
merits of assessment techniques, this text provides an objective perspective on issues
surrounding the efficacy and effectiveness of assessment strategies.
organization
The book is divided into four parts. Part I provides an introduction to assessment
in early childhood in chapters 1 and 2. Part II is devoted to standardized tests and
how they are designed, used, and reported in chapters 3 and 4. Classroom assess-
ments are discussed in part III. Chapter 5 is a new chapter that focuses on classroom
assessment and documentation, while chapter 6 includes expanded information
on observation. Checklists, rating scales, and rubrics are covered in chapter 7, while
teacher-designed strategies and performance-based strategies are described in chap-
ters 8 and 9. Finally, part IV is devoted to the use of assessment systems and how all
the strategies discussed in the chapters leading to part IV can be incorporated into
an assessment system or comprehensive assessment plan. Chapter 10 focuses on
the portfolio as an assessment system or part of an assessment system. Chapter 11
addresses the relationship teachers should have with parents and how a partnership v
can be developed that will best serve the child’s learning and assessment. Included
in the relationship is how children’s progress can be reported to parents and how Preface
parents can contribute to the reporting process.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the reviewers who provided valuable suggestions and feed-
back for this seventh edition, including Brianne Morettini, Rowan University; Ana
Pratt, University of Minnesota, Duluth; Anne M. Slanina, Slippery Rock University;
and Jill A. Smith, University of Houston, Clear Lake. Their comments were percep-
tive and their suggestions constructive. The reviewers were thoughtful in their ideas
for how the text could be improved.
It is also important to thank the staff at Pearson, who helped in the conceptual-
ization of important revisions as well as in the production process, including Megan
Moffo, program manager; Julie Peters, senior acquisitions editor; Krista Slavicek,
development editor; Mary Beth Finch, project manager; Andrea Hall, editorial assis-
tant; and Valerie Iglar-Mobley, who coordinated production at Integra.
About the Authors
Sue Clark Wortham is Professor Emerita of Early Childhood and Elementary

Education at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Prior to beginning a teach-
ing career in higher education in 1979, she taught prekindergarten through
second grade in public schools, worked as a school district administrator, and
was a consultant at an education service center.
She has authored numerous texts, including Early Childhood Curriculum:
Developmental Bases for Learning and Teaching (5th ed., 2010), Pearson. She
coauthored Play and Child Development (4th ed., 2012) with Joe Frost and Stuart
Reifel, also published by Pearson. Organizational publications include Childhood
1892–2002, published by the Association for Childhood Education International,
and Playgrounds for Young Children: National Survey and Perspectives, coauthored
with Joe Frost, published by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Educa-
tion, Recreation, and Dance (AAHPERD).
In 1992, she served as a Fulbright Scholar in Chile. She was president of the
Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) from 1995 to 1997.
Since retirement, she has been very active in the development of the Global
Guidelines for Early Childhood Education and Care that resulted from an inter-
national symposium held in Ruschlikon, Switzerland, in 1999. Subsequently,
she has a leadership role in the development, validation, and implementation
of the ACEI Global Guidelines Assessment adapted from the original guidelines.
She edited Common Characteristics and Unique Qualities in Preschool Programs:
Global Perspectives in Early Childhood Education for Springer in 2013, which report-
ed on the use of the Global Guidelines Assessment in countries around the world.
Dr. Wortham has served as director of educational programs for World
Children’s Relief and Volunteer Organization, a small nongovernmental
organization (NGO), from 2001 to 2011. She engaged in training teachers and
principals in Haiti, Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Sierra Leone.
BelINDa J. harDIN is an Associate Professor in the Department of Specialized Edu-

cation Services at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dr. Hardin
completed her PhD in Early Childhood, Families, and Literacy at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to entering higher education in 2004,
she was a public school kindergarten and special education teacher, a Head Start
director, and the Director of the Special Projects Division at Chapel Hill Train-
ing-Outreach Project.
Her research includes cross-cultural studies investigating the effectiveness
of services for young children with and without disabilities in the United States
and other countries, particularly in Latin America. She is especially interested
in measures of program quality with global applicability and how they are in-
formed by sociocultural context. She served as the Co-Principal Investigator of
three national studies in the United States that investigated the reliability and
validity of Learning Accomplishment Profile assessment instruments, including
vi
a dual-language sample of 2,099 children (half English speakers and a half Span- vii
ish speakers) to norm the Learning Accomplishment Profile-Diagnostic Edition.
Additionally, Dr. Hardin completed studies investigating the referral, evaluation, about the
and placement of preschool children with disabilities who are English Language authors
Learners and is currently developing a family report questionnaire on preschool
language development in English and Spanish. Dr. Hardin has conducted re-
search and professional development activities with professionals and Spanish-
speaking families in North Carolina, Guatemala, and the Yucatan Peninsula of
Mexico. She was the Co-Principal Investigator of three international studies in-
vestigating the reliability and validity of the ACEI Global Guidelines Assessment
in multiple countries across the world. Dr. Hardin has served on the Board of
Directors for the Association of Childhood Education International and cur-
rently participates in two initiatives spearheaded by UNICEF to improve services
for young children in inclusive early childhood settings worldwide.
Brief Contents
PReFACe iii
ABoUt the AUthoRS vi
PARt i Introduction to Assessment in Early Childhood

ChAPteR 1 An Overview of Assessment in Early Childhood 1
ChAPteR 2 How Infants and Young Children Should Be
Assessed 2 8
PARt ii Standardized Tests

ChAPteR 3 How Standardized Tests Are Used, Designed,
and Selected 5 4
ChAPteR 4 Using and Reporting Standardized Test Results 81
PARt iii Classroom Assessments

ChAPteR 5 Classroom Assessment and Documentation 1 1 0
ChAPteR 6 Observation 1 2 9
ChAPteR 7 Checklists, Rating Scales, and Rubrics 1 5 9
ChAPteR 8 Teacher-Designed Assessment Strategies 1 8 7
ChAPteR 9 Performance-Based Assessment Strategies 2 1 3
PARt iv Using Assessment Systems

ChAPteR 10 Portfolio Assessment 2 3 7
ChAPteR 11 Communicating with Families 267
GloSSARY 283
index 288
viii
Contents
PReFACe iii
ABoUt the AUthoRS vi
PARt i Introduction to Assessment in Early

Childhood
ChAPteR 1
An Overview of Assessment in Early

Childhood 1
Understanding the Purposes of Assessment in Infancy and Early
Childhood 1
What Is Assessment? 2
Purposes of Assessment 2
The History of Tests and Measurements in Early Childhood 4
The Child Study Movement 4
Standardized Tests 5
Head Start and the War on Poverty 6
Legislation for Young Children with Disabilities 7
Issues and Trends in Assessment in Early Childhood Education 10
Issues in a New Century: The Accountability Era 11
Concerns about Assessing Infants and Toddlers 13
Concerns about Assessing Young Children in Early Childhood Settings 13
Concerns about Assessing Young Children with Cultural and Language Differences 14
Concerns about Assessing Young Children with Disabilities 16
Trends in a New Century 18
Summary 22
review QueStionS 22
applying what you’ve learned 23
SuggeSted activitieS 23
Key termS 23
Selected organizationS 23
referenceS 23
ix
x ChAPteR 2
contents
How Infants and Young Children
Should Be Assessed 28
The Principles of Assessment that Should Be Used with Young
Children 29
General Principles for Assessment for All Students 29
Principles of Assessment for Young Children 32
How Infants and Young Children Are Assessed 34
Elements of a Comprehensive System of Assessment for
Children of All Ages 37
Components of an Assessment System for Infants and Toddlers 38
Elements of an Assessment System for Young Children 40
Using Assessment Results for Instruction and to Evaluate the
Instructional Program 43
Using Assessment Results to Plan for Instruction 43
Using Assessment Results to Report Progress 43
Using Assessment Results to Evaluate the Instructional Program 43
Environmental Assessment 44
How the Assessment Process Should Be Implemented During the School
Year with School-Age Children 45
Preassessment 45
Ongoing Assessment 45
Assessment at the End of Instructional Cycles 46
Challenges in Addressing and Assessing for Standards 46
Common Core Standards in Preschool Programs 48
Guidelines for Working with Young Children in an Assessment Setting 49
Summary 50
review QueStionS 50
Key termS 51
referenceS 51
PARt ii Standardized Tests

ChAPteR 3
How Standardized Tests Are Used,

Designed, and Selected 54
How Standardized Tests Are Used with Infants and Young
Children 55
Types of Standardized Tests 55
Tests for Infants 56
Tests for Preschool Children 59 xi
Tests for School-Age Children 62
contents
Steps in Standardized Test Design 68
Specifying the Purpose of the Test 68
Determining Test Format 68
Developing Experimental Forms 69
Assembling the Test 69
Standardizing the Test 70
Developing the Test Manual 71
Differences Between Test Validity and Test Reliability 71
Factors that Affect Validity and Reliability 73
Standard Error of Measurement 73
Considerations in Selecting and Evaluating Standardized Tests 74
Summary 76
review QueStionS 77
Key termS 77
referenceS 77
ChAPteR 4
Using and Reporting Standardized

Test Results 81
Uses of Norm-Referenced and Criterion-Referenced Tests 82
Distinctions Between Norm-Referenced and Criterion-Referenced Tests 82
Uses of Norm-Referenced Tests and Criterion-Referenced Tests with Infants 83
Uses of Norm-Referenced Tests with Preschool Children 84
Uses of Norm-Referenced Tests with School-Age Children 86
Uses of Criterion-Referenced Tests with Preschool Children 87
Uses of Criterion-Referenced Tests with School-Age Children 87
How Standardized Test Scores Are Interpreted 91
The Normal Curve 91
Standard Deviations 92
Percentile Ranks and Stanines 92
Z Scores and T Scores 93
How Standardized Test Results Are Reported 95
Individual Test Record 95
Norm-Referenced Scores 95
Class Reports 96
School and District Reports 97
How Standardized Test Scores Should Be Reported to Parents 98
Sharing Assessment Results with Parents of Children with Disabilities and/or
English Language Learners (ELLs) 99
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Standardized Tests with Young
Children 100
Advantages of Standardized Tests 100
xii Disadvantages of Standardized Tests 102
Assessment of Students with Disabilities and/or English Language Learners (ELLs) 103
contents Misapplication of Test Results with Young Children 104
Summary 106
review QueStionS 106
Key termS 107
referenceS 107
PARt iii Classroom Assessments

ChAPteR 5
Classroom Assessment and

Documentation 110
Uses of Classroom Assessment Strategies 111
Placement Evaluation 111
Diagnostic Evaluation and Instructional Planning 112
Formative and Summative Evaluation 112
Advantages of Using Classroom Assessments 112
Disadvantages of Using Classroom Assessments 115
The Role of Documentation 116
The Influence of Reggio Emilia 116
Types of Documentation 118
Narratives 120
Observations of Progress and Performance 121
Child Self-Reflections 121
Results of Work and Play Activities 122
Individual Portfolios 123
Summary 125
Key termS 126
referenceS 127
ChAPteR 6
Observation 129
Purposes of Observation 129
Understanding Children’s Behavior 130
Evaluating Children’s Development 130
Evaluating Learning Progress 136
Types of Observation 138 xiii
Anecdotal Record 138
Running Record 139 contents
Time Sampling 142
Event Sampling 144
Checklists and Rating Scales 145
Observations and Technology 147
Benefits and Disadvantages of Using Technology for Observations 147
Observing Development 148
Physical Development 148
Social and Emotional Development 149
Cognitive Development 150
Language Development 152
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Observation for Assessment 153
Observation Guidelines 154
Determining the Observation Site 154
Observer Behaviors During the Observation Visit 154
Ethics During the Observation Visit 155
Avoiding Personal Bias 155
Summary 156
Key termS 157
referenceS 157
ChAPteR 7
Checklists, Rating Scales,

and Rubrics 159
How Checklists Are Designed and Used with Young Children 160
Using Checklists with Infants, Toddlers, and Preschool Children 160
Using Checklists with School-Age Children 161
Using Checklists to Assess Children with Special Needs 162
How Checklists Are Designed 162
Identification of the Skills to Be Included 162
Separate Listing of Target Behaviors 163
Sequential Organization of the Checklist 164
Record Keeping 164
Checklists and Standards 164
Checklists as a Guide to Understanding Development 166
Checklists as a Guide to Developing Curriculum 166
Checklists as a Guide to Assessing Learning and Development 168
How Teachers Evaluate and Assess with Checklists 168
Evaluating Checklist Objectives by Observation 169
Evaluating Checklist Objectives with Learning Activities 169
Evaluating Checklist Objectives with Specific Tasks 169
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Checklists with Young Children 170
xiv Advantages of Using Checklists 170
Disadvantages of Using Checklists 170
contents
Types of Rating Scales and How They Are Used with Young Children 171
Types of Rating Scales 171
Uses of Rating Scales 172
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Rating Scales with Young Children 174
Advantages of Using Rating Scales 174
Disadvantages of Using Rating Scales 176
Types of Rubrics and How They Are Designed and Used 177
Types of Rubrics 178
How Rubrics Are Designed and Used 181
Advantages of Using Rubrics 182
Disadvantages of Using Rubrics 182
Developing Quality Checklists, Rating Scales, and Rubrics 183
Checklists 183
Rating Scales 183
Rubrics 183
Consistency in Conducting and Scoring Assessments 184
Summary 184
Key termS 185
referenceS 185
ChAPteR 8
Teacher-Designed Assessment
Strategies 187
Purposes of Teacher-Designed Assessments and Tests 188
Types of Assessments Used with Preschool and Primary-Grade
Children 190
Developing Quality Teacher-Designed Assessments 194
Concrete Tasks for Preschool 194
Tests for Primary-Grade Children 195
How Tests Are Designed and Used 195
Steps in Test Design 196
Determining Instructional Objectives 196
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Teacher-Designed Assessments 208
Summary 211
Key termS 212
referenceS 212
ChAPteR 9 xv
Performance-Based Assessment contents
Strategies 213
Understanding Performance Assessment 213
Authentic Learning and Assessment 214
Interrelated Nature of Performance-Based Assessments 215
Purposes for Performance-Based Assessment 217
Types of Performance-Based Assessments 218
Interviews 218
Contracts 219
Directed Assignments 220
Games 221
Work Samples 222
Projects 223
Portfolios 223
Classification and Organization of Performance
Assessments 223
The Role of Observation 224
The Role of Documentation 225
The Role of Rubrics 226
Standards and Performance-Based Assessment 227
Connecting Standards to Authentic Learning 227
Connecting Standards to Performance Assessment 228
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Performance-Based
Assessment 230
Advantages of Using Performance-Based Assessment 230
Disadvantages of Using Performance-Based Assessment 231
Summary 234
Key termS 235
referenceS 235
PARt iv Using Assessment Systems

ChAPteR 10
Portfolio Assessment 237

Understanding the Need for Alternative Assessment
and Reporting Systems 238
Using Alternative Assessments Appropriately: Limitations of Report Cards 238
Portfolio Assessments 241
Purposes for Portfolio Assessment 241
Types of Portfolios 242
xvi Organizing Portfolios Using a Developmental Approach 243
Organizing Portfolios Using a Subject-Area Approach 245
contents
Setting Up and Using a Portfolio Assessment System 246
Steps in Getting Started 246
Collecting and Organizing Work 249
Selecting Portfolio Assessments 249
Analyzing Portfolio Assessments 249
Strategies for Developing Quality Portfolios 251
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Portfolios to Report
Student Progress 254
Reporting Progress Using Narrative Reports 256
Using Narrative Reports to Report Student Progress 256
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Narrative Reports 259
Model Assessment and Reporting Systems 260
Project Spectrum 260
The Work Sampling System 261
The Preschool Child Observation Record 262
Teacher-Designed Systems 262
Summary 263
Key termS 264
referenceS 265
ChAPteR 11
Communicating with
Families 267
Family-Professional Partnerships that Promote Children’s
Development and Learning 268
Strategies for Establishing and Maintaining Family–Professional
Partnerships that Benefit Children 270
Establishing Relationships with Families 270
Using Professional Ethics in School-Family Partnerships 272
Assessment Roles of Families of Children with Disabilities 273
Involving All Parents in the Assessment Process 273
Conducting Effective Parent Conferences 275
Types of Parent Conferences 275
Preparing for Family Conferences 276
Conducting Family Conferences 277
Role of Parents in the Screening and Assessment Process 278
Summary 280

xvii
Key termS 281
contents
referenceS 281
GloSSARY 283
index 288
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Chapter 1
An Overview
of Assessment in
Early Childhood
Suzanne Clouzeau/Pearson
Chapter Objectives
As a result of reading this chapter, you will be able to:
1. Explain the purposes of assessment in early childhood.
2. Describe the history of tests and measurements in early childhood.
3. Discuss issues and trends in assessing all young children.
Understanding the purposes of assessment

in Infancy and early Childhood
Not too long ago, resources on early childhood assessment were limited to
occasional articles in journals, chapters in textbooks on teaching in early childhood
programs, and a few small textbooks that were used as secondary texts in an early
childhood education course. Very few teacher preparation programs offered a course
devoted to assessment in early childhood. Now, in the 21st century, assessment
of very young children has experienced a period of rapid growth and expansion.
1
2 In fact, it has been described as a “virtual explosion of testing in public schools”
(Meisels & Atkins-Burnett, 2005, p. 1).
Chapter 1 There has also been an explosion in the numbers of infants, toddlers, and
An Overview preschoolers in early childhood programs and the types of programs that serve
of Assessment in them. Moreover, the diversity among these young children increases each year. For
Early Childhood example, Head Start programs serve children and families who speak at least 140
different languages. In some Head Start classrooms, 10 different languages might be
spoken. Currently, 9 out of 10 Head Start programs enroll children whose families
speak a language other than English (HHS/ACF/OHS, 2010). Head Start teaching
teams may be multilingual, also representing growth in the diversity of the U.S.
population (David, 2005; HHS/ACF/OHS, 2010).
What Is Assessment?
What do we need to know about all the diverse children found in services for infant
and young children from all kinds of families, cultures, and languages? The study
of individuals for measurement purposes begins before birth with assessment of
fetal growth and development. At birth and throughout infancy and early child-
hood, various methods of measurement are used to evaluate the child’s growth and
development. Before a young child enters a preschool program, he or she is measured
through medical examinations. Children are also measured through observations of
developmental milestones, such as saying the first word or walking independently,
by parents and other family members. Children might also be screened or evaluated
for an early childhood program or service. Assessment is really a process. A current
definition describes the assessment process as: “Assessment is the process of gather-
ing information about children from several forms of evidence, then organizing and
interpreting that information” (McAfee, Leong, & Bodrova, 2004, p. 3).
Assessment of children from birth through the preschool years is different from
assessment of older people. Not only can young children not yet write or read, but
the assessment of young, developing children also presents different challenges
that influence the choice of measurement strategy, or how to measure or assess the
children. Assessment methods must be matched with the level of mental, social,
and physical development at each stage. Developmental change in young children
is rapid, and there is a need to assess whether development is progressing normally.
If development is not normal, the measurement and evaluation procedures used are
important in making decisions regarding appropriate intervention services during
infancy and the preschool years.
The term assessment can have different meanings when used with different age
groups. An infant or toddler can be assessed to determine instructional needs in
Early Head Start programs or to determine eligibility for early intervention services,
for example. A preschool child may be assessed to determine school readiness or
special education needs. A school-age child may be assessed to understand his or her
academic achievement and/or whether the child is ready for the next grade level.
Check Your Understanding 1.1
Click here to gauge your understanding of concepts in this section.
Purposes of Assessment
Watch this video to
see a brief explanation Assessment is used for various purposes. An evaluation may be conducted to
of assessment by two assess a young child’s development overall or in a specific developmental
professionals. (www.youtube.com/ domain such as language or mathematics. Evaluations usually include mul-
watch?v=lQyEJN6TbSk) tiple sources of assessment. When we need to learn more, we may assess the
child by asking her or him to describe what she or he has achieved. For example, a 3
first-grade teacher may use measurement techniques to determine what reading skills
have been mastered and what weaknesses exist that indicate a need for additional Chapter 1
instruction. An Overview
Assessment strategies may be used for diagnosis. Just as a medical doctor of Assessment in
conducts a physical examination of a child to diagnose an illness, psychologists, Early Childhood
teachers, and other adults who work with children can conduct an informal or for-
mal assessment to diagnose a developmental delay or causes for poor performance
in learning, as well as to identify strengths. Assessment for this purpose may be
one part of the initial evaluation process, which may also include observation, a
review of medical records, and information from parents to identify their concerns,
priorities, and resources.
If medical problems, birth defects, or developmental delays in motor, language,
cognitive, or social development are discovered during the early, critical periods of
development, steps can be taken to correct, minimize, or remediate them before the
child enters school. For many developmental deficits or differences, the earlier they
are detected and the earlier intervention is planned, the more likely the child will be
able to overcome them or compensate for them. For example, if a serious hearing
deficit is identified early, the child can learn other methods of communicating and
acquiring information.
Assessment of young children is also used for placement—to place them in
infant or early childhood programs or to provide special services. To ensure that a
child receives the best services, careful screening followed by more extensive testing
and observation may be conducted before selecting the combination of interven-
tion programs and other services that will best serve the child.
Program planning is another purpose of assessment. After children have been
identified and evaluated for an intervention program or service, assessment results
can be used in planning the individualized programs that will serve them. These
programs, in turn, can be evaluated to determine their effectiveness.
Early Intervention for a Child

with Hearing Impairment
J ulio, who is 2 years old, was born prematurely. He did not have regular checkups
during his first year, but his mother took him to a community clinic when he had
a cold and fever at about 9 months of age. When the doctor noticed that Julio did not
react to normal sounds in the examining room, she stood behind him and clapped
her hands near each ear. Because Julio did not turn toward the clapping sounds, the
doctor suspected that he had a hearing loss. She arranged for Julio to be examined
by an audiologist at an eye, ear, nose, and throat clinic.
Julio was found to have a significant hearing loss in both ears. He was fitted with
hearing aids and is attending a special program twice a week for children with hearing
deficits. Therapists in the program are teaching Julio to speak. They are also teaching
his mother how to make Julio aware of his surroundings and help him to develop a
vocabulary. Had Julio not received intervention services at an early age, he might have
entered school with severe cognitive and learning deficits that would have put him
at a higher risk for failing to learn.
4 Besides identifying and correcting developmental problems, assessment of
very young children is conducted for other purposes. One purpose is research.
Chapter 1 Researchers study young children to better understand their behavior or to measure
An Overview the appropriateness of the experiences that are provided for them.
of Assessment in How were these assessment strategies developed? In the next section, we describe
Early Childhood how certain movements or factors, especially during the past century, have affected the
development of testing instruments, procedures, and other measurement techniques
that are used with infants and young children.
the history of tests and Measurements

in early Childhood
Interest in studying young children to understand their growth and development
dates back to the initial recognition of childhood as a separate period in the life
cycle. Johann Pestalozzi, a pioneer in developing educational programs specifically
for children, wrote about the development of his 312 -year-old son in 1774 (Irwin &
Bushnell, 1980). Early publications also reflected concern for the proper upbring-
ing and education of young children. Some Thoughts Concerning Education by John
Locke (1699), Emile by Rousseau (1762/1911), and Frederick Froebel’s Education of
Man (1896) were influential in focusing attention on the characteristics and needs
of children in the 18th and 19th centuries. Rousseau believed that human nature
was essentially good and that education must allow that goodness to unfold. He
stated that more attention should be given to studying the child so that education
could be adapted to meet individual needs (Weber, 1984). The study of children, as
advocated by Rousseau, did not begin until the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Scientists throughout the world used observation to measure human behaviors.
Ivan Pavlov proposed a theory of conditioning to change behaviors. Alfred Binet
developed the concept of a normal mental age by studying memory, attention,
and intelligence in children. Binet and Theophile Simon developed an intelligence
scale to determine mental age that made it possible to differentiate the abilities of
individual children (Weber, 1984). American psychologists expanded these early
efforts, developing instruments for various types of measurement.
The study and measurement of young children today has evolved from the
child study movement, the development of standardized tests, Head Start and other
federal programs first funded in the 1960s, the passage of Public Law 94-142 (now
called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004), and
Public Law 99-457 (an expansion of PL 94-142 to include infants, toddlers, and
preschoolers). Currently, there is a movement toward more meaningful learning or
authentic achievement and assessment (Newmann, 1996; Wiggins, 1993). At the
same time, continuing progress is being made in identifying, diagnosing, and provid-
ing more appropriate intervention for infants and young children with disabilities
(Epstein, Schweinhart, DeBruin-Parecki, & Robin, 2004; Meisels & Fenichel, 1996).
The Child Study Movement

G. Stanley Hall, Charles Darwin, and Lawrence Frank were leaders in the develop-
ment of the child study movement that emerged at the beginning of the 20th century.
Darwin, in suggesting that by studying the development of the infant one could
glimpse the development of the human species, initiated the scientific study of the 5
child (Kessen, 1965). Hall developed and extended methods of studying children.
After he became president of Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, he estab- Chapter 1
lished a major center for child study. Hall’s students—John Dewey, Arnold Gesell, and An Overview
Lewis Terman—all made major contributions to the study and measurement of chil- of Assessment in
dren. Dewey advocated educational reform that affected the development of educa- Early Childhood
tional programs for young children. Gesell first described the behaviors that emerged
in children at each chronological age. Terman became a leader in the development of
mental tests (Irwin & Bushnell, 1980; Wortham, 2002).
Research in child rearing and child care was furthered by the establishment of the
Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial child development grants. Under the leadership
of Lawrence Frank, institutes for child development were funded by the Rockefeller
grants at Columbia University Teacher’s College (New York), the University of
Minnesota, the University of California at Berkeley, Arnold Gesell’s Clinic of Child
Development at Yale University, the Iowa Child Welfare Station, and other locations.
With the establishment of child study at academic centers, preschool children
could be observed in group settings, rather than as individuals in the home. With
the development of laboratory schools and nursery schools in the home econom-
ics departments of colleges and universities, child study research could also include
the family in broadening the understanding of child development. Researchers from
many disciplines joined in an ongoing child study movement that originated strate-
gies for observing and measuring development. The results of their research led to
an abundant literature. Between the 1890s and the 1950s, hundreds of children
were studied in academic settings throughout the United States (Weber, 1984). Thus,
the child study movement has taught us to use observation and other strategies to
assess the child. Investigators today continue to add new knowledge about child
development and learning that aids parents, preschool teachers and staff members,
and professionals in institutions and agencies that provide services to children and
families. In the last decade of the 20th century and in the 21st century, brain research
has opened up a whole new perspective of the nature of cognitive development
and the importance of the early years for optimum development and later learning
(Begley, 1997; National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2004; 2010;
Shore, 1997). These new findings have caused early childhood educators to reflect on
the factors that affect early development and the implications for programming for
children in infancy and early childhood.
Standardized Tests
Standardized testing also began around 1900. When colleges and universities in the
East sought applicants from other areas of the nation in the 1920s, they found the
high school transcripts of these students difficult to evaluate. The Scholastic Aptitude
Test (SAT) was established to permit fairer comparisons of applicants seeking admis-
sion (Cronbach, 1990).
As public schools expanded to offer 12 years of education, a similar phenom-
enon occurred. To determine the level and pace of instruction and the grouping
of students without regard for socioeconomic class, objective tests were developed
(Gardner, 1961). These tests grew out of the need to sort, select, or otherwise make
decisions about both children and adults.
The first efforts to design tests were informal. When a psychologist, researcher,
or physician needed a method to observe a behavior, he or she developed a
6 procedure to meet those needs. This procedure was often adopted by others with the
same needs. When many people wanted to use a particular measurement strategy
Chapter 1 or test, the developer prepared printed copies for sale. As the demand for tests grew,
An Overview textbook publishers and firms specializing in test development and production also
of Assessment in began to create and sell tests (Cronbach, 1990).
Early Childhood American psychologists built on the work of Binet and Simon in developing
the intelligence measures described earlier. Binet’s instrument, revised by Terman
at Stanford University, came to be known as the Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scale.
Other Americans, particularly educators, welcomed the opportunity to use precise
measurements to evaluate learning. Edward Thorndike and his students designed
measures to evaluate achievement in reading, mathematics, spelling, and language
ability (Weber, 1984). Because of the work of Terman and Thorndike, testing soon
became a science (Scherer, 1999). By 1918, more than 100 standardized tests had
been designed to measure school achievement (Monroe, 1918).
The Industrial Revolution in the 1800s was a major influence in the develop-
ment of standardized tests. School-age children were taken out of factories and
farms to attend school. Standardized tests made it possible to assess the new, large
numbers of students. The SAT and ACT college entrance exams became the most
prevalent standardized tests used to assess college eligibility. The SAT was founded
in 1926. It remained largely unchanged until 2005, when a writing section was
added. The ACT was developed to compete with the SAT in 1959. The ACT assesses
accumulated knowledge. Both tests are widely used today (Fletcher, 2009).
After World War II, the demand for dependable and technically refined tests
grew, and people of all ages came to be tested. As individuals and institutions
selected and developed their own tests, the use of testing became more centralized.
Statewide tests were administered in schools, and tests were increasingly used at the
national level.
The expanded use of tests resulted in the establishment of giant corporations that
could assemble the resources to develop, publish, score, and report the results of testing
to a large clientele. Centralization improved the quality of tests and the establishment
of standards for test design. As individual researchers and teams of psychologists con-
tinue to design instruments to meet current needs, the high quality of these newer tests
can be attributed to the improvements and refinements made over the years and to the
increased knowledge of test design and validation (Cronbach, 1990).
Head Start and the War on Poverty

Prior to the 1960s, medical doctors, psychologists, and other professionals serving
children developed tests for use with infants and preschool children. Developmental
measures, IQ tests, and specialized tests to measure developmental deficits were
generally used for noneducational purposes. Child study researchers tended to use
observational or unobtrusive methods to study the individual child or groups of
children. School-age children were assessed to measure school achievement, but
this type of test was rarely used with preschool children.
After the federal government decided to improve the academic performance
of children from low-income homes and those from non-English-speaking back-
grounds, test developers moved quickly to design new measurement and evaluation
instruments for these preschool and school-age populations.
In the late 1950s, there was concern about the consistently low academic per-
formance of children from poor homes. As researchers investigated the problem,
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DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI
Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least

the Newala of to-day does; there was once another Newala in a lovely
valley at the foot of the plateau. I visited it and found scarcely a trace
of houses, only a Christian cemetery, with the graves of several
missionaries and their converts, remaining as a monument of its
former glories. But the surroundings are wonderfully beautiful. A
thick grove of splendid mango-trees closes in the weather-worn
crosses and headstones; behind them, combining the useful and the
agreeable, is a whole plantation of lemon-trees covered with ripe
fruit; not the small African kind, but a much larger and also juicier
imported variety, which drops into the hands of the passing traveller,
without calling for any exertion on his part. Old Newala is now under
the jurisdiction of the native pastor, Daudi, at Chingulungulu, who,
as I am on very friendly terms with him, allows me, as a matter of
course, the use of this lemon-grove during my stay at Newala.
FEET MUTILATED BY THE RAVAGES OF THE “JIGGER”
(Sarcopsylla penetrans)
The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,

some 1,600 feet lower down. The way is not only long and fatiguing,
but the water, when we get it, is thoroughly bad. We are suffering not
only from this, but from the fact that the arrangements at Newala are
nothing short of luxurious. We have a separate kitchen—a hut built
against the boma palisade on the right of the baraza, the interior of
which is not visible from our usual position. Our two cooks were not
long in finding this out, and they consequently do—or rather neglect
to do—what they please. In any case they do not seem to be very
particular about the boiling of our drinking-water—at least I can
attribute to no other cause certain attacks of a dysenteric nature,
from which both Knudsen and I have suffered for some time. If a
man like Omari has to be left unwatched for a moment, he is capable
of anything. Besides this complaint, we are inconvenienced by the
state of our nails, which have become as hard as glass, and crack on
the slightest provocation, and I have the additional infliction of
pimples all over me. As if all this were not enough, we have also, for
the last week been waging war against the jigger, who has found his
Eldorado in the hot sand of the Makonde plateau. Our men are seen
all day long—whenever their chronic colds and the dysentery likewise
raging among them permit—occupied in removing this scourge of
Africa from their feet and trying to prevent the disastrous
consequences of its presence. It is quite common to see natives of
this place with one or two toes missing; many have lost all their toes,
or even the whole front part of the foot, so that a well-formed leg
ends in a shapeless stump. These ravages are caused by the female of
Sarcopsylla penetrans, which bores its way under the skin and there
develops an egg-sac the size of a pea. In all books on the subject, it is
stated that one’s attention is called to the presence of this parasite by
an intolerable itching. This agrees very well with my experience, so
far as the softer parts of the sole, the spaces between and under the
toes, and the side of the foot are concerned, but if the creature
penetrates through the harder parts of the heel or ball of the foot, it
may escape even the most careful search till it has reached maturity.
Then there is no time to be lost, if the horrible ulceration, of which
we see cases by the dozen every day, is to be prevented. It is much
easier, by the way, to discover the insect on the white skin of a
European than on that of a native, on which the dark speck scarcely
shows. The four or five jiggers which, in spite of the fact that I
constantly wore high laced boots, chose my feet to settle in, were
taken out for me by the all-accomplished Knudsen, after which I
thought it advisable to wash out the cavities with corrosive
sublimate. The natives have a different sort of disinfectant—they fill
the hole with scraped roots. In a tiny Makua village on the slope of
the plateau south of Newala, we saw an old woman who had filled all
the spaces under her toe-nails with powdered roots by way of
prophylactic treatment. What will be the result, if any, who can say?
The rest of the many trifling ills which trouble our existence are
really more comic than serious. In the absence of anything else to
smoke, Knudsen and I at last opened a box of cigars procured from
the Indian store-keeper at Lindi, and tried them, with the most
distressing results. Whether they contain opium or some other
narcotic, neither of us can say, but after the tenth puff we were both
“off,” three-quarters stupefied and unspeakably wretched. Slowly we
recovered—and what happened next? Half-an-hour later we were
once more smoking these poisonous concoctions—so insatiable is the
craving for tobacco in the tropics.
Even my present attacks of fever scarcely deserve to be taken
seriously. I have had no less than three here at Newala, all of which
have run their course in an incredibly short time. In the early
afternoon, I am busy with my old natives, asking questions and
making notes. The strong midday coffee has stimulated my spirits to
an extraordinary degree, the brain is active and vigorous, and work
progresses rapidly, while a pleasant warmth pervades the whole
body. Suddenly this gives place to a violent chill, forcing me to put on
my overcoat, though it is only half-past three and the afternoon sun
is at its hottest. Now the brain no longer works with such acuteness
and logical precision; more especially does it fail me in trying to
establish the syntax of the difficult Makua language on which I have
ventured, as if I had not enough to do without it. Under the
circumstances it seems advisable to take my temperature, and I do
so, to save trouble, without leaving my seat, and while going on with
my work. On examination, I find it to be 101·48°. My tutors are
abruptly dismissed and my bed set up in the baraza; a few minutes
later I am in it and treating myself internally with hot water and
lemon-juice.
Three hours later, the thermometer marks nearly 104°, and I make
them carry me back into the tent, bed and all, as I am now perspiring
heavily, and exposure to the cold wind just beginning to blow might
mean a fatal chill. I lie still for a little while, and then find, to my
great relief, that the temperature is not rising, but rather falling. This
is about 7.30 p.m. At 8 p.m. I find, to my unbounded astonishment,
that it has fallen below 98·6°, and I feel perfectly well. I read for an
hour or two, and could very well enjoy a smoke, if I had the
wherewithal—Indian cigars being out of the question.
Having no medical training, I am at a loss to account for this state
of things. It is impossible that these transitory attacks of high fever
should be malarial; it seems more probable that they are due to a
kind of sunstroke. On consulting my note-book, I become more and
more inclined to think this is the case, for these attacks regularly
follow extreme fatigue and long exposure to strong sunshine. They at
least have the advantage of being only short interruptions to my
work, as on the following morning I am always quite fresh and fit.
My treasure of a cook is suffering from an enormous hydrocele which
makes it difficult for him to get up, and Moritz is obliged to keep in
the dark on account of his inflamed eyes. Knudsen’s cook, a raw boy
from somewhere in the bush, knows still less of cooking than Omari;
consequently Nils Knudsen himself has been promoted to the vacant
post. Finding that we had come to the end of our supplies, he began
by sending to Chingulungulu for the four sucking-pigs which we had
bought from Matola and temporarily left in his charge; and when
they came up, neatly packed in a large crate, he callously slaughtered
the biggest of them. The first joint we were thoughtless enough to
entrust for roasting to Knudsen’s mshenzi cook, and it was
consequently uneatable; but we made the rest of the animal into a
jelly which we ate with great relish after weeks of underfeeding,
consuming incredible helpings of it at both midday and evening
meals. The only drawback is a certain want of variety in the tinned
vegetables. Dr. Jäger, to whom the Geographical Commission
entrusted the provisioning of the expeditions—mine as well as his
own—because he had more time on his hands than the rest of us,
seems to have laid in a huge stock of Teltow turnips,[46] an article of
food which is all very well for occasional use, but which quickly palls
when set before one every day; and we seem to have no other tins
left. There is no help for it—we must put up with the turnips; but I
am certain that, once I am home again, I shall not touch them for ten
years to come.
Amid all these minor evils, which, after all, go to make up the
genuine flavour of Africa, there is at least one cheering touch:
Knudsen has, with the dexterity of a skilled mechanic, repaired my 9
× 12 cm. camera, at least so far that I can use it with a little care.
How, in the absence of finger-nails, he was able to accomplish such a
ticklish piece of work, having no tool but a clumsy screw-driver for
taking to pieces and putting together again the complicated
mechanism of the instantaneous shutter, is still a mystery to me; but
he did it successfully. The loss of his finger-nails shows him in a light
contrasting curiously enough with the intelligence evinced by the
above operation; though, after all, it is scarcely surprising after his
ten years’ residence in the bush. One day, at Lindi, he had occasion
to wash a dog, which must have been in need of very thorough
cleansing, for the bottle handed to our friend for the purpose had an
extremely strong smell. Having performed his task in the most
conscientious manner, he perceived with some surprise that the dog
did not appear much the better for it, and was further surprised by
finding his own nails ulcerating away in the course of the next few
days. “How was I to know that carbolic acid has to be diluted?” he
mutters indignantly, from time to time, with a troubled gaze at his
mutilated finger-tips.
Since we came to Newala we have been making excursions in all
directions through the surrounding country, in accordance with old
habit, and also because the akida Sefu did not get together the tribal
elders from whom I wanted information so speedily as he had
promised. There is, however, no harm done, as, even if seen only
from the outside, the country and people are interesting enough.
The Makonde plateau is like a large rectangular table rounded off
at the corners. Measured from the Indian Ocean to Newala, it is
about seventy-five miles long, and between the Rovuma and the
Lukuledi it averages fifty miles in breadth, so that its superficial area
is about two-thirds of that of the kingdom of Saxony. The surface,
however, is not level, but uniformly inclined from its south-western
edge to the ocean. From the upper edge, on which Newala lies, the
eye ranges for many miles east and north-east, without encountering
any obstacle, over the Makonde bush. It is a green sea, from which
here and there thick clouds of smoke rise, to show that it, too, is
inhabited by men who carry on their tillage like so many other
primitive peoples, by cutting down and burning the bush, and
manuring with the ashes. Even in the radiant light of a tropical day
such a fire is a grand sight.
Much less effective is the impression produced just now by the
great western plain as seen from the edge of the plateau. As often as
time permits, I stroll along this edge, sometimes in one direction,
sometimes in another, in the hope of finding the air clear enough to
let me enjoy the view; but I have always been disappointed.
Wherever one looks, clouds of smoke rise from the burning bush,
and the air is full of smoke and vapour. It is a pity, for under more
favourable circumstances the panorama of the whole country up to
the distant Majeje hills must be truly magnificent. It is of little use
taking photographs now, and an outline sketch gives a very poor idea
of the scenery. In one of these excursions I went out of my way to
make a personal attempt on the Makonde bush. The present edge of
the plateau is the result of a far-reaching process of destruction
through erosion and denudation. The Makonde strata are
everywhere cut into by ravines, which, though short, are hundreds of
yards in depth. In consequence of the loose stratification of these
beds, not only are the walls of these ravines nearly vertical, but their
upper end is closed by an equally steep escarpment, so that the
western edge of the Makonde plateau is hemmed in by a series of
deep, basin-like valleys. In order to get from one side of such a ravine
to the other, I cut my way through the bush with a dozen of my men.
It was a very open part, with more grass than scrub, but even so the
short stretch of less than two hundred yards was very hard work; at
the end of it the men’s calicoes were in rags and they themselves
bleeding from hundreds of scratches, while even our strong khaki
suits had not escaped scatheless.
NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR

MAHUTA
I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.
MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO

This is the general way of closing a house. The Makonde at Jumbe
Chauro, however, have a much more complicated, solid and original
one. Here, too, the door is as already described, except that there is
only one post on the inside, standing by itself about six inches from
one side of the doorway. Opposite this post is a hole in the wall just
large enough to admit a man’s arm. The door is closed inside by a
large wooden bolt passing through a hole in this post and pressing
with its free end against the door. The other end has three holes into
which fit three pegs running in vertical grooves inside the post. The
door is opened with a wooden key about a foot long, somewhat
curved and sloped off at the butt; the other end has three pegs
corresponding to the holes, in the bolt, so that, when it is thrust
through the hole in the wall and inserted into the rectangular
opening in the post, the pegs can be lifted and the bolt drawn out.[50]
MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY
With no small pride first one householder and then a second

showed me on the spot the action of this greatest invention of the
Makonde Highlands. To both with an admiring exclamation of
“Vizuri sana!” (“Very fine!”). I expressed the wish to take back these
marvels with me to Ulaya, to show the Wazungu what clever fellows
the Makonde are. Scarcely five minutes after my return to camp at
Newala, the two men came up sweating under the weight of two
heavy logs which they laid down at my feet, handing over at the same
time the keys of the fallen fortress. Arguing, logically enough, that if
the key was wanted, the lock would be wanted with it, they had taken
their axes and chopped down the posts—as it never occurred to them
to dig them out of the ground and so bring them intact. Thus I have
two badly damaged specimens, and the owners, instead of praise,
come in for a blowing-up.
The Makua huts in the environs of Newala are especially
miserable; their more than slovenly construction reminds one of the
temporary erections of the Makua at Hatia’s, though the people here
have not been concerned in a war. It must therefore be due to
congenital idleness, or else to the absence of a powerful chief. Even
the baraza at Mlipa’s, a short hour’s walk south-east of Newala,
shares in this general neglect. While public buildings in this country
are usually looked after more or less carefully, this is in evident
danger of being blown over by the first strong easterly gale. The only
attractive object in this whole district is the grave of the late chief
Mlipa. I visited it in the morning, while the sun was still trying with
partial success to break through the rolling mists, and the circular
grove of tall euphorbias, which, with a broken pot, is all that marks
the old king’s resting-place, impressed one with a touch of pathos.
Even my very materially-minded carriers seemed to feel something
of the sort, for instead of their usual ribald songs, they chanted
solemnly, as we marched on through the dense green of the Makonde
bush:—
“We shall arrive with the great master; we stand in a row and have
no fear about getting our food and our money from the Serkali (the
Government). We are not afraid; we are going along with the great
master, the lion; we are going down to the coast and back.”
With regard to the characteristic features of the various tribes here
on the western edge of the plateau, I can arrive at no other
conclusion than the one already come to in the plain, viz., that it is
impossible for anyone but a trained anthropologist to assign any
given individual at once to his proper tribe. In fact, I think that even
an anthropological specialist, after the most careful examination,
might find it a difficult task to decide. The whole congeries of peoples
collected in the region bounded on the west by the great Central
African rift, Tanganyika and Nyasa, and on the east by the Indian
Ocean, are closely related to each other—some of their languages are
only distinguished from one another as dialects of the same speech,
and no doubt all the tribes present the same shape of skull and
structure of skeleton. Thus, surely, there can be no very striking
differences in outward appearance.
Even did such exist, I should have no time
to concern myself with them, for day after day,
I have to see or hear, as the case may be—in
any case to grasp and record—an
extraordinary number of ethnographic
phenomena. I am almost disposed to think it
fortunate that some departments of inquiry, at
least, are barred by external circumstances.
Chief among these is the subject of iron-
working. We are apt to think of Africa as a
country where iron ore is everywhere, so to
speak, to be picked up by the roadside, and
where it would be quite surprising if the
inhabitants had not learnt to smelt the
material ready to their hand. In fact, the
knowledge of this art ranges all over the
continent, from the Kabyles in the north to the
Kafirs in the south. Here between the Rovuma
and the Lukuledi the conditions are not so
favourable. According to the statements of the
Makonde, neither ironstone nor any other
form of iron ore is known to them. They have
not therefore advanced to the art of smelting
the metal, but have hitherto bought all their
THE ANCESTRESS OF
THE MAKONDE
iron implements from neighbouring tribes.
Even in the plain the inhabitants are not much
better off. Only one man now living is said to
understand the art of smelting iron. This old fundi lives close to
Huwe, that isolated, steep-sided block of granite which rises out of
the green solitude between Masasi and Chingulungulu, and whose
jagged and splintered top meets the traveller’s eye everywhere. While
still at Masasi I wished to see this man at work, but was told that,
frightened by the rising, he had retired across the Rovuma, though
he would soon return. All subsequent inquiries as to whether the
fundi had come back met with the genuine African answer, “Bado”
(“Not yet”).
BRAZIER
Some consolation was afforded me by a brassfounder, whom I

came across in the bush near Akundonde’s. This man is the favourite
of women, and therefore no doubt of the gods; he welds the glittering
brass rods purchased at the coast into those massive, heavy rings
which, on the wrists and ankles of the local fair ones, continually give
me fresh food for admiration. Like every decent master-craftsman he
had all his tools with him, consisting of a pair of bellows, three
crucibles and a hammer—nothing more, apparently. He was quite
willing to show his skill, and in a twinkling had fixed his bellows on
the ground. They are simply two goat-skins, taken off whole, the four
legs being closed by knots, while the upper opening, intended to
admit the air, is kept stretched by two pieces of wood. At the lower
end of the skin a smaller opening is left into which a wooden tube is
stuck. The fundi has quickly borrowed a heap of wood-embers from
the nearest hut; he then fixes the free ends of the two tubes into an
earthen pipe, and clamps them to the ground by means of a bent
piece of wood. Now he fills one of his small clay crucibles, the dross
on which shows that they have been long in use, with the yellow
material, places it in the midst of the embers, which, at present are
only faintly glimmering, and begins his work. In quick alternation
the smith’s two hands move up and down with the open ends of the
bellows; as he raises his hand he holds the slit wide open, so as to let
the air enter the skin bag unhindered. In pressing it down he closes
the bag, and the air puffs through the bamboo tube and clay pipe into
the fire, which quickly burns up. The smith, however, does not keep
on with this work, but beckons to another man, who relieves him at
the bellows, while he takes some more tools out of a large skin pouch
carried on his back. I look on in wonder as, with a smooth round
stick about the thickness of a finger, he bores a few vertical holes into
the clean sand of the soil. This should not be difficult, yet the man
seems to be taking great pains over it. Then he fastens down to the
ground, with a couple of wooden clamps, a neat little trough made by
splitting a joint of bamboo in half, so that the ends are closed by the
two knots. At last the yellow metal has attained the right consistency,
and the fundi lifts the crucible from the fire by means of two sticks
split at the end to serve as tongs. A short swift turn to the left—a
tilting of the crucible—and the molten brass, hissing and giving forth
clouds of smoke, flows first into the bamboo mould and then into the
holes in the ground.
The technique of this backwoods craftsman may not be very far
advanced, but it cannot be denied that he knows how to obtain an
adequate result by the simplest means. The ladies of highest rank in
this country—that is to say, those who can afford it, wear two kinds
of these massive brass rings, one cylindrical, the other semicircular
in section. The latter are cast in the most ingenious way in the
bamboo mould, the former in the circular hole in the sand. It is quite
a simple matter for the fundi to fit these bars to the limbs of his fair
customers; with a few light strokes of his hammer he bends the
pliable brass round arm or ankle without further inconvenience to
the wearer.
SHAPING THE POT
SMOOTHING WITH MAIZE-COB
CUTTING THE EDGE

FINISHING THE BOTTOM
LAST SMOOTHING BEFORE

BURNING
FIRING THE BRUSH-PILE

LIGHTING THE FARTHER SIDE OF
THE PILE
TURNING THE RED-HOT VESSEL
NYASA WOMAN MAKING POTS AT MASASI

Pottery is an art which must always and everywhere excite the
interest of the student, just because it is so intimately connected with
the development of human culture, and because its relics are one of
the principal factors in the reconstruction of our own condition in
prehistoric times. I shall always remember with pleasure the two or
three afternoons at Masasi when Salim Matola’s mother, a slightly-
built, graceful, pleasant-looking woman, explained to me with
touching patience, by means of concrete illustrations, the ceramic art
of her people. The only implements for this primitive process were a
lump of clay in her left hand, and in the right a calabash containing
the following valuables: the fragment of a maize-cob stripped of all
its grains, a smooth, oval pebble, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, a
few chips of gourd-shell, a bamboo splinter about the length of one’s
hand, a small shell, and a bunch of some herb resembling spinach.
Nothing more. The woman scraped with the
shell a round, shallow hole in the soft, fine
sand of the soil, and, when an active young
girl had filled the calabash with water for her,
she began to knead the clay. As if by magic it
gradually assumed the shape of a rough but
already well-shaped vessel, which only wanted
a little touching up with the instruments
before mentioned. I looked out with the
MAKUA WOMAN closest attention for any indication of the use
MAKING A POT. of the potter’s wheel, in however rudimentary
SHOWS THE a form, but no—hapana (there is none). The
BEGINNINGS OF THE embryo pot stood firmly in its little
POTTER’S WHEEL
depression, and the woman walked round it in
a stooping posture, whether she was removing
small stones or similar foreign bodies with the maize-cob, smoothing
the inner or outer surface with the splinter of bamboo, or later, after
letting it dry for a day, pricking in the ornamentation with a pointed
bit of gourd-shell, or working out the bottom, or cutting the edge
with a sharp bamboo knife, or giving the last touches to the finished
vessel. This occupation of the women is infinitely toilsome, but it is
without doubt an accurate reproduction of the process in use among
our ancestors of the Neolithic and Bronze ages.
There is no doubt that the invention of pottery, an item in human
progress whose importance cannot be over-estimated, is due to
women. Rough, coarse and unfeeling, the men of the horde range
over the countryside. When the united cunning of the hunters has
succeeded in killing the game; not one of them thinks of carrying
home the spoil. A bright fire, kindled by a vigorous wielding of the
drill, is crackling beside them; the animal has been cleaned and cut
up secundum artem, and, after a slight singeing, will soon disappear
under their sharp teeth; no one all this time giving a single thought
to wife or child.
To what shifts, on the other hand, the primitive wife, and still more
the primitive mother, was put! Not even prehistoric stomachs could
endure an unvarying diet of raw food. Something or other suggested
the beneficial effect of hot water on the majority of approved but
indigestible dishes. Perhaps a neighbour had tried holding the hard
roots or tubers over the fire in a calabash filled with water—or maybe
an ostrich-egg-shell, or a hastily improvised vessel of bark. They
became much softer and more palatable than they had previously
been; but, unfortunately, the vessel could not stand the fire and got
charred on the outside. That can be remedied, thought our
ancestress, and plastered a layer of wet clay round a similar vessel.
This is an improvement; the cooking utensil remains uninjured, but
the heat of the fire has shrunk it, so that it is loose in its shell. The
next step is to detach it, so, with a firm grip and a jerk, shell and
kernel are separated, and pottery is invented. Perhaps, however, the
discovery which led to an intelligent use of the burnt-clay shell, was
made in a slightly different way. Ostrich-eggs and calabashes are not
to be found in every part of the world, but everywhere mankind has
arrived at the art of making baskets out of pliant materials, such as
bark, bast, strips of palm-leaf, supple twigs, etc. Our inventor has no
water-tight vessel provided by nature. “Never mind, let us line the
basket with clay.” This answers the purpose, but alas! the basket gets
burnt over the blazing fire, the woman watches the process of
cooking with increasing uneasiness, fearing a leak, but no leak
appears. The food, done to a turn, is eaten with peculiar relish; and
the cooking-vessel is examined, half in curiosity, half in satisfaction
at the result. The plastic clay is now hard as stone, and at the same
time looks exceedingly well, for the neat plaiting of the burnt basket
is traced all over it in a pretty pattern. Thus, simultaneously with
pottery, its ornamentation was invented.
Primitive woman has another claim to respect. It was the man,
roving abroad, who invented the art of producing fire at will, but the
woman, unable to imitate him in this, has been a Vestal from the
earliest times. Nothing gives so much trouble as the keeping alight of
the smouldering brand, and, above all, when all the men are absent
from the camp. Heavy rain-clouds gather, already the first large
drops are falling, the first gusts of the storm rage over the plain. The
little flame, a greater anxiety to the woman than her own children,
flickers unsteadily in the blast. What is to be done? A sudden thought
occurs to her, and in an instant she has constructed a primitive hut
out of strips of bark, to protect the flame against rain and wind.
This, or something very like it, was the way in which the principle
of the house was discovered; and even the most hardened misogynist
cannot fairly refuse a woman the credit of it. The protection of the
hearth-fire from the weather is the germ from which the human
dwelling was evolved. Men had little, if any share, in this forward
step, and that only at a late stage. Even at the present day, the
plastering of the housewall with clay and the manufacture of pottery
are exclusively the women’s business. These are two very significant
survivals. Our European kitchen-garden, too, is originally a woman’s
invention, and the hoe, the primitive instrument of agriculture, is,
characteristically enough, still used in this department. But the
noblest achievement which we owe to the other sex is unquestionably
the art of cookery. Roasting alone—the oldest process—is one for
which men took the hint (a very obvious one) from nature. It must
have been suggested by the scorched carcase of some animal
overtaken by the destructive forest-fires. But boiling—the process of
improving organic substances by the help of water heated to boiling-
point—is a much later discovery. It is so recent that it has not even
yet penetrated to all parts of the world. The Polynesians understand
how to steam food, that is, to cook it, neatly wrapped in leaves, in a
hole in the earth between hot stones, the air being excluded, and
(sometimes) a few drops of water sprinkled on the stones; but they
do not understand boiling.
To come back from this digression, we find that the slender Nyasa
woman has, after once more carefully examining the finished pot,
put it aside in the shade to dry. On the following day she sends me
word by her son, Salim Matola, who is always on hand, that she is
going to do the burning, and, on coming out of my house, I find her
already hard at work. She has spread on the ground a layer of very
dry sticks, about as thick as one’s thumb, has laid the pot (now of a
yellowish-grey colour) on them, and is piling brushwood round it.
My faithful Pesa mbili, the mnyampara, who has been standing by,
most obligingly, with a lighted stick, now hands it to her. Both of
them, blowing steadily, light the pile on the lee side, and, when the
flame begins to catch, on the weather side also. Soon the whole is in a
blaze, but the dry fuel is quickly consumed and the fire dies down, so
that we see the red-hot vessel rising from the ashes. The woman
turns it continually with a long stick, sometimes one way and
sometimes another, so that it may be evenly heated all over. In
twenty minutes she rolls it out of the ash-heap, takes up the bundle
of spinach, which has been lying for two days in a jar of water, and
sprinkles the red-hot clay with it. The places where the drops fall are
marked by black spots on the uniform reddish-brown surface. With a
sigh of relief, and with visible satisfaction, the woman rises to an
erect position; she is standing just in a line between me and the fire,
from which a cloud of smoke is just rising: I press the ball of my
camera, the shutter clicks—the apotheosis is achieved! Like a
priestess, representative of her inventive sex, the graceful woman
stands: at her feet the hearth-fire she has given us beside her the
invention she has devised for us, in the background the home she has
built for us.
At Newala, also, I have had the manufacture of pottery carried on
in my presence. Technically the process is better than that already
described, for here we find the beginnings of the potter’s wheel,
which does not seem to exist in the plains; at least I have seen
nothing of the sort. The artist, a frightfully stupid Makua woman, did
not make a depression in the ground to receive the pot she was about
to shape, but used instead a large potsherd. Otherwise, she went to
work in much the same way as Salim’s mother, except that she saved
herself the trouble of walking round and round her work by squatting
at her ease and letting the pot and potsherd rotate round her; this is
surely the first step towards a machine. But it does not follow that
the pot was improved by the process. It is true that it was beautifully
rounded and presented a very creditable appearance when finished,
but the numerous large and small vessels which I have seen, and, in
part, collected, in the “less advanced” districts, are no less so. We
moderns imagine that instruments of precision are necessary to
produce excellent results. Go to the prehistoric collections of our
museums and look at the pots, urns and bowls of our ancestors in the
dim ages of the past, and you will at once perceive your error.
MAKING LONGITUDINAL CUT IN
BARK
DRAWING THE BARK OFF THE LOG
REMOVING THE OUTER BARK

BEATING THE BARK
WORKING THE BARK-CLOTH AFTER BEATING, TO MAKE IT

SOFT
MANUFACTURE OF BARK-CLOTH AT NEWALA

To-day, nearly the whole population of German East Africa is
clothed in imported calico. This was not always the case; even now in
some parts of the north dressed skins are still the prevailing wear,
and in the north-western districts—east and north of Lake
Tanganyika—lies a zone where bark-cloth has not yet been
superseded. Probably not many generations have passed since such
bark fabrics and kilts of skins were the only clothing even in the
south. Even to-day, large quantities of this bright-red or drab
material are still to be found; but if we wish to see it, we must look in
the granaries and on the drying stages inside the native huts, where
it serves less ambitious uses as wrappings for those seeds and fruits
which require to be packed with special care. The salt produced at
Masasi, too, is packed for transport to a distance in large sheets of
bark-cloth. Wherever I found it in any degree possible, I studied the
process of making this cloth. The native requisitioned for the
purpose arrived, carrying a log between two and three yards long and
as thick as his thigh, and nothing else except a curiously-shaped
mallet and the usual long, sharp and pointed knife which all men and
boys wear in a belt at their backs without a sheath—horribile dictu!
[51]
Silently he squats down before me, and with two rapid cuts has
drawn a couple of circles round the log some two yards apart, and
slits the bark lengthwise between them with the point of his knife.
With evident care, he then scrapes off the outer rind all round the
log, so that in a quarter of an hour the inner red layer of the bark
shows up brightly-coloured between the two untouched ends. With
some trouble and much caution, he now loosens the bark at one end,
and opens the cylinder. He then stands up, takes hold of the free
edge with both hands, and turning it inside out, slowly but steadily
pulls it off in one piece. Now comes the troublesome work of
scraping all superfluous particles of outer bark from the outside of
the long, narrow piece of material, while the inner side is carefully
scrutinised for defective spots. At last it is ready for beating. Having
signalled to a friend, who immediately places a bowl of water beside
him, the artificer damps his sheet of bark all over, seizes his mallet,
lays one end of the stuff on the smoothest spot of the log, and
hammers away slowly but continuously. “Very simple!” I think to
myself. “Why, I could do that, too!”—but I am forced to change my
opinions a little later on; for the beating is quite an art, if the fabric is
not to be beaten to pieces. To prevent the breaking of the fibres, the
stuff is several times folded across, so as to interpose several
thicknesses between the mallet and the block. At last the required
state is reached, and the fundi seizes the sheet, still folded, by both
ends, and wrings it out, or calls an assistant to take one end while he
holds the other. The cloth produced in this way is not nearly so fine
and uniform in texture as the famous Uganda bark-cloth, but it is
quite soft, and, above all, cheap.
Now, too, I examine the mallet. My craftsman has been using the
simpler but better form of this implement, a conical block of some
hard wood, its base—the striking surface—being scored across and
across with more or less deeply-cut grooves, and the handle stuck
into a hole in the middle. The other and earlier form of mallet is
shaped in the same way, but the head is fastened by an ingenious
network of bark strips into the split bamboo serving as a handle. The
observation so often made, that ancient customs persist longest in
connection with religious ceremonies and in the life of children, here
finds confirmation. As we shall soon see, bark-cloth is still worn
during the unyago,[52] having been prepared with special solemn
ceremonies; and many a mother, if she has no other garment handy,
will still put her little one into a kilt of bark-cloth, which, after all,
looks better, besides being more in keeping with its African
surroundings, than the ridiculous bit of print from Ulaya.
MAKUA WOMEN

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Assessment in Early Childhood

Education 7th Edition – Ebook PDF

Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco Hoboken

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wortham, Sue Clark

traditional and Authentic Assessment Strategies

new to this edition

how to Assess Young Children

Sue Clark Wortham is Professor Emerita of Early Childhood and Elementary

BelINDa J. harDIN is an Associate Professor in the Department of Specialized Edu-

PARt i Introduction to Assessment in Early Childhood

PARt ii Standardized Tests

PARt iii Classroom Assessments

PARt iv Using Assessment Systems

PARt i Introduction to Assessment in Early

An Overview of Assessment in Early

applying what you’ve learned 23

applying what you’ve learned 51

PARt ii Standardized Tests

How Standardized Tests Are Used,

applying what you’ve learned 77

Using and Reporting Standardized

review QueStionS 106

applying what you’ve learned 107

Key termS 107

Selected organizationS 107

PARt iii Classroom Assessments

Classroom Assessment and

review QueStionS 126

applying what you’ve learned 126

Key termS 126

Selected organizationS 127

review QueStionS 156

applying what you’ve learned 157

Key termS 157

Selected organizationS 157

Checklists, Rating Scales,

review QueStionS 185

applying what you’ve learned 185

Key termS 185

Selected organizationS 185

review QueStionS 211

applying what you’ve learned 211

Key termS 212

Selected organizationS 212

review QueStionS 235

applying what you’ve learned 235

Key termS 235

Selected organizationS 235

PARt iv Using Assessment Systems

Portfolio Assessment 237

review QueStionS 264

applying what you’ve learned 264

Key termS 264

Selected organizationS 264

review QueStionS 281

Understanding the purposes of assessment

Early Intervention for a Child

the history of tests and Measurements

The Child Study Movement

Head Start and the War on Poverty

Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least

The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,